Etihad Airways has announced a new route to the Serbian capital of Belgrade.
The daily service will launch on June 15, using A319 aircraft configured for 90 economy passengers and 16 in business class.
Serbia’s national carrier Jat Airways will codeshare on the new route, along with 21 other destinations on the Etihad network, while the Gulf carrier will place its code on 23 of Jat’s European services.
Flight EY71 will depart Abu Dhabi at 0835, landing into Belgrade at 1215, with the return leg EY72 leaving the Serbian capital at 1300, arriving back into Abu Dhabi at 2020.
The new route and codeshare agreement follows CEO James Hogan’s recent assertion that legacy airline alliances have “outlived their usefulness”, with the carrier opting to grow through “a combination of organic growth, codeshares and minority equity investments” (see online news April 5).
Qatar Airways launched flights between Doha and Belgrade last year (see online news November 21, 2012), while Flydubai operates between Dubai and the Serbian capital.
For more information visit etihadairways.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
